


One Step at a Time

by besully (Briar_Elwood)



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-16
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-08-09 02:37:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7783504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Briar_Elwood/pseuds/besully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of scenes starting immediately after 10.07 Counterstrike and ending after 10.20 Unending, detailing the progression of Daniel and Vala's relationship.</p><p>All Vala wanted was to conquer the challenge Daniel had unwittingly presented. Once she had her victory, she’d drop it and Daniel wasn’t sure he could survive that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Step at a Time

After Bra’tac left and Teal’c went off to kel’no’reem or something, Daniel went to go find Vala. She wasn’t in her quarters, and she wasn’t pestering Sam or Mitchell, but Daniel did eventually find her in the mess. She had a bowl of blue Jell-O, but she didn’t seem like she was actually too interested in it. Slowly and quietly, Daniel sat down across from her, watching her distant expression carefully. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up.

“You doing all right?” he asked gently. Vala looked up at him briefly, flashing a short smile.

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Daniel raised an eyebrow at her. Vala looked up at him again and grimaced.

“I feel a little sick, to be honest,” she said, picking her spoon up and poking at the Jell-O. “I mean, I was  _ relieved _ my own daughter was supposedly dead, and then she wasn’t, and she killed all those Jaffa, and she threatened to kill you before making some creepy comment about plans for you, and she’s hellbent on converting me, but I still have this little part of me that was happy to see her alive.” She looked furious, her grip tightening on the spoon. “I  _ hate _ it.” She emphasized her point with a shove at the table, making the Jell-O jiggle violently for a few moments. Vala sat back, shoving her hands in her armpits.

Daniel stayed quiet for a while, waiting to see if that was the end of Vala’s rant or if she had more to say. After deciding she probably had said her piece, he leaned forward.

“Look, I know you know this and that you probably don’t want me to say it, so I’ll just say it once. You’re her mother. No matter who or what she is, you’re allowed to feel maternal instinct towards her. Genocide or not.”

Vala rolled her eyes, but she didn’t look quite so angry anymore. Daniel pressed forward.

“Hey. How about I get you off this base later this week? We could grab a bite to eat somewhere nice.”

Vala finally actually looked at him, eyes brightening and a grin starting to form.

“Like a date?”

Now it was Daniel’s turn to roll his eyes. “Not like a date. Just dinner. Friday night, after the recon to PX3-298. What do you say?”

And there it was--exactly what Daniel was hoping for. Vala’s trademark grin. He couldn’t help but smile back.

“Okay,” she said, her usual bounce back. “That sounds nice.”

* * *

The second attempt at dinner went much better than the first. This time Vala actually got to enjoy her passion fruit martini as well as a chocolate one. The one time Vala went to the bathroom Daniel made her promise to be very aware of anyone who looked even the slightest bit untrustworthy. Actually, the whole evening was rather pleasant and uneventful.

They went to a different restaurant this time. Even though he’d never tell Vala this, Daniel wasn’t sure he’d ever go to  _ Il Fiore _ ever again. The memory of the panic and hollowed-out stomach feeling he’d experienced was just too strong. This other restaurant was still nice, still Italian (because he could just tell Vala would love Italian), but more intimate and less swanky. He made sure they got a table where he could see all the exits. He was pretty sure Vala could tell he was a little on edge, but she graciously didn’t say anything. Daniel almost wondered if she was grateful for it. He knew she’d never admit it, but he was willing to bet she was still more shook up than she was letting on.

After dinner, Daniel drove Vala back to the base. They sat in the parking lot idling for a while before both of them started to speak at the same time. Vala grinned at him, and he begrudgingly grinned back.

“How about you go first this time?” he suggested.

“Oh, okay,” she said. “Well, I was just going to thank you for dinner. It was lovely. And… and I wanted to-to thank you for not…” Vala trailed off, and Daniel looked over to her curiously. She was fiddling with the hem of her blouse, looking down, far more nervous and uncomfortable than Daniel was, well. Comfortable with.

“It’s okay,” he said, sparing her from having to finish the thought. She looked up and smiled at him gratefully.

“We weren’t about to… Well, I refused to…” Daniel stopped, frustrated, and started again. “Twice now, the odds told me you were gone for good. I refused to believe them either time.” He threw her a smile. “You’re too resilient to let the universe take you down without a fight.”

Sometimes Vala’s smile wasn’t the fifty thousand watt smile Daniel had grown accustomed to even though the same number of pearly whites were showing. Sometimes her smile was more… sincere, like she’d been caught off guard by whatever was making her smile. He was starting to see it more often, Daniel realized, and it seemed to have a correlation with his thank yous to her, like the one now.

Vala ducked her head, tucking her hair behind her ear. Daniel found himself watching her, thanking whatever powers that be once again that they’d found her after only two weeks, alive and unharmed. Vala looked back up at him, the same strange smile still playing on her lips, before speaking.

“Well, I-I should probably head on in, and let you go home,” she said, slowly reaching for the door handle. Daniel blinked himself out of his stupor and nodded.

“Right.”

Vala smiled and nodded, opening the door and hopping out. “Thanks again for tonight, Daniel. It really was lovely.”

Daniel smiled in response as Vala closed the door behind her, pulling out her ID from her purse so she could get back inside the base.

“Vala,” Daniel called through the open window just as she turned to leave. She looked back, eyes wide and expecting.

“How would you feel if we did this again, same time next week?” he asked, mouth moving before his brain had really caught up. “There’s a Thai place in town I think you would really enjoy.”

Again, the same strange smile Daniel couldn’t quite put his finger on bloomed on Vala’s face. She nodded, her whole body bouncing a little to emphasize the motion.

“I’d like that.”

* * *

They continued to go out like this every Friday night they were on Earth. Daniel took her out to a couple more restaurants, and then a couple bars with decent bands playing, and even a play at one of the local theaters. Vala stopped calling these outings “dates” (except around the team and General Landry, of course), and it just became an expected routine.

After every single one of these outings, another half hour to a couple of hours would be spent in Daniel’s car, just talking and laughing. Vala could be very funny when she wasn’t being crude for crudeness’s sake, Daniel found. It was easy to talk and laugh with her, just as easy as it was to argue and bicker with her. Which they also did plenty of on these outings.

“But your moon isn’t blue,” Vala was saying, looking confused and a little bit frustrated. “So if it isn’t blue and it never turns blue, ‘once in a blue moon’ means never, doesn’t it?”

“It’s hyperbole, Vala,” Daniel explained patiently. He’d been trying to explain various idioms all night. “And the term ‘blue moon’ doesn’t actually reference the color at all.”

“Your planet is strange,” Vala concluded. Daniel chuckled.

“That was never in question.”

Vala shook her head, and she leaned down to pick up her purse from where it’d been sitting by her feet. “Well, I need to get my beauty sleep, Daniel darling.”

Daniel smirked and rolled his eyes. “Of course. Wouldn’t want to miss out on that. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

Vala grinned, and it was her full-blown blinding grin just for a moment before it slid down to something else. Her hand was on the door handle, and her purse was over her shoulder, but she didn’t move. Daniel waited, curious but not worried yet, when all of a sudden Vala leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Daniel started at the unexpected movement, but she had already opened the door and climbed out, shutting the door quickly behind her before Daniel could even react. She did give him one last smile through the open window before skipping off to the entrance, but it still wasn’t enough time for Daniel to process what had just happened.

After watching her disappear indoors, Daniel sighed. He was beginning to think he’d never really understand Vala Mal Doran.

* * *

Daniel downloaded Merlin’s consciousness into his brain before the next Friday. They’d planned to go to a barbecue restaurant.

When the team finally found him again and they finished the sangraal and sent it through the supergate and Merlin had left, Daniel realized he’d held some kind of hope that things would just go back to normal without realizing it. They didn’t.

He wouldn’t call Vala skittish. That wasn’t quite it. But she definitely wasn't really comfortable around him. And it was strange. Daniel didn’t like it. Back when they’d first met, she’d already squirmed her way right into his life, making herself comfortable without any regard for personal space both physically and emotionally, before he’d even had time to realize what was going on. He’d been the one who’d had to get comfortable. Comfort had never been Vala’s problem.

But now, after this whole Merlin and Prior debacle, their roles were reversed. It wasn’t glaringly obvious--in fact, Daniel would be surprised if the rest of the team even noticed. But it was just enough that interactions with Vala felt slightly strained.

A little while after Merlin left, the team decided to go out together. There was a game on that Mitchell was excited about and a good band playing at Teal’c’s favorite watering hole. As they were all headed up to the surface, however, Daniel grabbed Vala gently by the elbow.

“Can we talk?” he asked quietly so the others couldn’t hear them. Vala turned to frown at him, glancing back briefly at the rest of the team as they piled into the elevator.

“Sure,” she said, a slight questioning lilt to her voice.

“You guys okay back there?” Mitchell asked, a hand holding the elevator doors open.

“We’ll catch up with you,” Vala called back. Mitchell raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at Daniel.

“Jackson?”

Daniel waved a hand at him dismissively, frustrated. He had to get this out now or it would never get out. Mitchell raised his hands in surrender and the elevator doors slid shut.

“What’s up?” Vala asked, too casual.

“I wanted to apologize,” Daniel started, pushing his glasses up before deciding he’d rather rub at the bridge of his nose instead. “For everything that’s happened in the past few weeks. I tricked you into looking away so I could do the download, and then… I-I’m not apologizing for doing what I thought--what I still think was the right choice. What was the only choice, really. Whether or not the Ori are actually dead, I won’t apologize for that.

“But I do apologize for… for making choices that made you lose your trust in me. For making you feel like you couldn’t be comfortable around me. You’ve worked so hard to earn my trust, and I just repaid you by giving you one hell of a reason to not trust me, and that was unfair of me. I value your friendship, Vala, and I value the contributions you make to the team, and I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t want to fuck that up.”

Daniel ended the monologuing with a hand scratching at the back of his neck, looking down at a skidmark on the floor. After a second he looked up to glance at Vala, just to get an idea of what to expect in way of reaction. Her face was utterly blank, eyes darting up and down him from head to toe like she wasn’t entirely convinced he was actually standing there.

After a few moments of silence, Daniel shut his eyes in defeat and threw up a grim smile. “We should catch up with the others.”

Vala stepped to the side to fall in line next to him, and Daniel started toward the elevator, ready to endure a silent drive to the bar. But before he could take another step, Vala had taken his arm with hers, her other hand resting easily on his upper arm. Daniel stalled, staring at her in confusion, when that strangely sincere smile blossomed on Vala’s face. A wave of relief rushed through him with such force Daniel felt a touch dizzy.

“Tonight’s already taken up with this game of Mitchell’s,” she said. “So where are we going next Friday?”

* * *

Some time after that, Vala kissed him. After a night spent at a park with a basket full of food and a large blanket to sit on. (Daniel knew these outings were beginning to look more and more like dates in a way even he couldn’t deny, but he tried to ignore it.) They sat in the parking lot by Cheyenne Mountain as usual, and Vala kissed him. On the lips. Not on the cheek, like before. This was slower, more deliberate, and when she pulled back she didn’t go too far, hooded eyes watching him carefully.

After finding whatever it was she was looking for, she gave a quiet sort of crooked smile and said in a low undertone,

“Good night, Daniel,” before climbing out the car and going inside.

Daniel could never really remember the drive home from that night.

* * *

The next week, without really planning to, Daniel kissed her back.

She leaned over to kiss him, and he found himself surging in to meet her. Vala seemed startled for the briefest of moments, but then Daniel could feel a smile form on her lips and a renewed passion grew behind the kiss. He reached a hand towards her, weaving his fingers through her hair, cupping the back of her neck, and pulling her in even closer. One of her hands rested on his upper arm with a grip just tight enough to register.

The car grew warm and muggy almost instantly, making it hard to breathe. But Daniel didn’t really notice because Vala had eclipsed everything else. Her skin was warm under his touch, her lips soft. Her breath was mingling with his, making everything warmer. The heat was coursing through his veins, every single hair standing like soldiers to attention, a rush that made him feel heady. Vala let out a small sigh, and it was like she’d ordered a charge forward. Daniel sucked in her bottom lip and bit down before dragging his teeth across the spit-slicked skin.

Vala’s reaction was instantaneous: though she made no sound, the hand resting on Daniel’s bicep tightened its grip, nails digging into his skin despite the shirt between them. Daniel let go of Vala’s lip with a gasp, and she shifted position so her hand rested at the base of his neck, pushing him forward so the kiss wasn’t broken for more than a second. Despite himself, Daniel couldn’t help but bite down again, running his tongue along her lip to ease the pain. Her nails dug into his skin again, this time running down his spine far slower than the chills accompanying it.

Daniel pulled off with a low growl, pushing Vala back down to her seat and climbing over the gear shift to settle down on her lap. Without a moment of hesitation, he grabbed the lever for her seat, yanked it up so that the back of Vala’s seat fell with a thud, Vala along with it. Daniel wasted no time following, catching a glimpse of Vala’s look of shock, immediately followed by a wild-eyed grin before kissing her soundly.

Her breath was hot on his, coming in fast and short and mingled with small, keening noises that went straight along Daniel’s spine. He felt light-headed and loopy, yet single-mindedly focused on Vala’s warm body pressed against his. He couldn’t help but grind just a little against her, his legs pressing tight around her thighs. He weaved his hands through her long, thick hair, pulling her in closer, closer, closer. When Vala finally broke away for air, gasping loudly, her chest heaving underneath him, Daniel moved his attentions to her neck, sucking and nipping at her skin gently. Vala squirmed delightfully, baring her neck for him, her nails running through his hair, across his scalp and down his neck. He wanted her to dig in harder.

When Daniel turned his attention to a spot right behind her ear, Vala went tense for a moment, like she was trying to arch her back but couldn’t quite with Daniel on top of her. Her nails dug into his skin, where she’d snaked her hands under his shirt, and he could tell there would be marks left by the way her perfect manicure scraped down his spine. Her mouth had fallen open, the sound of her fast breathing changing in the humid and stifling air. Then she hissed, long and thin, and he was almost sure he heard his name. He grinned to himself and sucked and bit at that spot with renewed vigor. He felt blood vessels popping under his teeth and the skin starting to swell. Vala would have to wear her hair down for a while.

While Daniel worshipped that sacred spot behind her ear, Vala forced a hand between them. Daniel barely noticed, too wrapped up in the idea of marking Vala, marking her as his just to shove it in the universe’s face, until Vala found her mark. She cupped her hand around his crotch and squeezed, making Daniel jolt, pulling off of her suddenly. She ran her nails along the inseam of his jeans gently, stopping at the top of his zipper before Daniel pulled back and pushed himself up.

He held himself up with his knees around her hips and his hands on either side of her head, suddenly cautious to let as little of himself not touch her.

It was hot in the car. Too hot.

He felt her eyes on him. Her confusion, mingled with some kind of distress and concern. He wanted to pretend she wasn’t there, but the heat and the loud breathing rising up to meet him was impossible to ignore. He couldn’t open his eyes. He already knew the look on her face. He didn’t want to see it.

“Daniel?” she said, breathy. Worried. Bewildered.

He didn’t answer. His breath was coming in short, uneven, shaky bursts. His elbows and knees were trembling. He wished it was colder outside.

“Daniel?” she said again. “You okay? Did I… Did I hurt you?”

She thought she’d hurt him. God, how had he let it get this far? How had he let this happen?

He breathed in heavily through his nose, trying desperately to ignore the smell of sweat and hormones and whatever perfume Vala always wore. Or maybe it was shampoo.

In one great heave of effort, Daniel pushed himself back to the driver’s seat, taking care to touch Vala as little as possible. He sat back down and gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands, head down, eyes still shut. He could hear her sitting up slowly, feel her eyes still trained on him carefully. The tension was going to suffocate him.

“I should head home,” he managed, hoarse and through gritted teeth. He opened his eyes and stared at his hands. He still felt the softness of her hair, the silkiness of her skin lingering.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Vala straighten, her eyes widening. There was a short peeved sound, and he could practically feel the indignance radiating off her. And he’d just won her forgiveness for the disappearing act. He waited for her to tear him apart for what felt like decades.

But only a few moments passed before all of the fury rolling off of Vala seemed to pull back in on itself, a storm passing before it even hit. She let out a small, scornful huff something like laughter. Then she adjusted her blouse and fixed her hair quickly, pulled the lever on her seat so it came back to sitting position, and opened the door, grabbing her purse and climbing outside.

“Good night, Daniel,” she said. It was almost curt. But not quite.

Daniel kept staring at his white knuckles gripping the steering wheel. He willed his breathing down to normal after a while. But his body was still buzzing, ready for more. The car was still hot, humid, and sticky. The windows were still steamed up.

Finally he gave up and headed inside the base. He watched every corner carefully until he made it safely to his quarters and locked the door behind him.

He didn’t sleep well.

* * *

Once again, Daniel had ruined everything. On a daily basis he berated himself for letting it get that far that night in his car. All Vala wanted was sex, and he couldn’t let that happen because it might break him. All she wanted was to conquer the challenge he’d unwittingly presented. Once she had her victory, she’d drop it and Daniel wasn’t sure he could survive that. He’d have to resign. She couldn’t leave the base. And it was bad enough as it was.

Daniel was pretty sure the others on the team couldn’t tell something was wrong. Sam had give him a few looks that made it seem she knew something was up, and Teal’c always looked like he could see right through Daniel, but otherwise nothing changed. The whole ordeal with Vala’s father and then with planting the false memories in Vala’s mind and Adria’s death had all been awful as hell, but through all of it Vala had relaxed some, and Daniel almost hoped things could go back to normal once more.

But then Teal’c showed up on the Odyssey fifty years older and that habit of looking at Daniel like the Jaffa could read him like an open book increased its intensity tenfold. Something had happened during those fifty years--something big that had to do with Daniel. And for some reason, Daniel couldn’t shake the feeling Vala was also somehow involved.

He knew Teal’c refused to tell them anything, and he knew Vala wouldn’t stop pestering him about it. Daniel was determined to be more mature about the whole thing, but finally one day he gave in and approached Teal’c.

Teal’c was in the gym lifting weights when Daniel found him. They nodded at each other in greeting, and Daniel shuffled awkwardly, trying to figure out how to phrase his question. Or what his question even was.

“Hey Teal’c,” he said, cringing inwardly. “Can I ask you a question?”

Teal’c stayed quiet, only raising an eyebrow expectantly as he continued his workout. Daniel realized he’d probably been expecting this. Had the others, as well as Vala, asked him their questions already? Everyone had them. Fifty years was a long time. Had anyone else actually tried to get information out of Teal’c, despite him telling them he wouldn’t give any answers? Sam probably hadn’t. She was always too worried about the space-time continuum anytime they encountered these things. Mitchell probably had. Had Landry asked Teal’c to write a mission report about it?

“Yes, DanielJackson?”

Daniel cringed again. He’d been quiet for too long.

“Uh. Look, I know you said you won’t tell us anything that happened in that time bubble, and I’m not asking you to, I just… I just need to know if Vala… well, I mean, if I…”

God, this was going terribly.

Teal’c set down his weights and stood, looking Daniel straight in the eye. It’d been awhile, Daniel realized, since he’d been on the receiving end of that look. Usually it was saved for Mitchell or Vala these days.

“I believe it would be prudent, DanielJackson, to put your faith in ValaMalDoran.”

Daniel blinked at Teal’c for a moment, letting the meaning behind Teal’c’s words sink in. Teal’c knew what Daniel was trying to ask. Daniel had to accept that fact. And if he accepted that as fact, what Teal’c was saying now meant…

Teal’c turned away to return to his workout, but it still took Daniel a few more seconds to move. If he was understanding Teal’c correctly…

Daniel turned on his heel and left the gym quickly. He tried not to rush and catch the stares of everyone he passed, but he still made it to Vala’s quarters in record time. She was walking out the door, fastening a hair clip in her hair, and she stopped when she saw Daniel. She looked a bit shocked, but that could’ve been because of the wide-eyed look of a crazy man on Daniel’s face.

“Hey,” she said, looking him up and down for some clue as to what this was about.

“Hi,” Daniel started, but suddenly he didn’t know what to say.

“I’m on my way to meet Sam for lunch,” Vala said slowly, and Daniel almost nodded and let her go. Almost.

“Can I talk to you? Now?” he added. “It’s important.”

After a brief pause, Vala nodded and gestured for them to walk back into her room.

“I’ll apologize to Sam later,” she said, closing the door. Daniel tried to convey his gratitude with a smile, but his mind was already focused on getting out what he came here to say. He fidgeted, pacing, and ended up by her dresser. He picked up one of her hair clips, twiddling with it absently.

“I find myself needing to apologize to you again,” he said, putting the hair clip back. “That night in my car, I was a dick to you, and I-I never even explained why.”

He could see, out the corner of his eye, Vala’s eyes widen as she slowly sank down to the footboard of her bed, but he didn’t look up yet.

“The simple reason is I was scared. It’s… well, it’s been so long since Sha’re, since my wife died, and you are so  _ different _ from each other, and I know it’s not fair to compare the two of you, but it’s difficult not to…” He trailed off and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. This wasn’t going well.

“She was your wife, Daniel,” Vala said softly from her perch on the footboard. “I understand.”

Daniel looked up and found Vala’s eyes were fixed on him, tender and encouraging. Something swelled up unexpectedly in his chest, and he had to swallow around it before he could talk again.

“It’s taken me this long,” he continued, “to realize it’s--this, you--that I’m not betraying her, and that I can actually trust you and-and more importantly, trust myself to-to make this work and give you the… relationship and love and respect and  _ trust _ you deserve.”

The corners of Vala’s lips were twitching, and Daniel was overcome with an abrupt fear that she was about to cry. Or maybe he was on the complete wrong track, and she was about to laugh at him. Forcefully, Daniel pushed those thoughts away and forged onward.

“I’ll be honest with you, Vala, this terrifies me, and I don’t know where to start so I’ve avoided starting anything all together, but I also haven’t allowed you to start anything, and that’s not fair.  _ You _ terrify me, but… but in a good way. Like a, like a thrill or a roller coaster, an adrenaline rush. Which is what I… I love most about you…”

And there it was. That smile Daniel had had so much trouble deciphering, and now he understood. He wasn’t just a challenge. That was the look of someone whose chest was swelling up with too much emotion, just like Daniel’s.

Vala stood up and walked over to him slowly, purposefully.

“We’ll take it slow,” she said quietly, placing her hands on his chest. Daniel took her by the wrists and moved her hands out of the way so he could pull her close by the hips.

“Not too slow,” he said, and Vala grinned.

She didn’t get the chance to apologize to Sam about missing lunch until much later.


End file.
